'Pain make man think. Thought make man wise. Wisdom make life endurable' : Sakini, in "The Tea House of the August Moon" by John Patrick, (1953)

Monday, June 25, 2018

'Frankenstein's Monster': The Founder Of BJP's IT Cell Says PM Modi's Team Started The Rot

"What does the BJP need that could put it ahead of other
parties?" During a car ride to a campaign venue in Uttar Pradesh in 2007,
BJP president Rajnath Singh tossed an unusual question at his media assistant
Prodyut Bora. The 33-year-old was taken slightly by surprise. He had been a
part of the party for less than three years and didn't belong to a political
dynasty. But he took his chance.

Remember, this was 2007, barely a year after
Facebook and Twitter had been launched; the IT industry was booming and no
party, Bora felt, had a narrative that could attract this new voting class of
young professionals. A few months later, the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'IT Cell' was born,
with Bora as a national convenor. Eleven years later, Bora, now also an
entrepreneur in clean air technologies with an office in Gurgaon, says his
brainchild has mutated beyond recognition.

"It's like Frankenstein's monster," he said.

Soon
after he joined, Bora was assigned to the media cell of the BJP in Delhi under
Arun Jaitley. The convenor of the media cell at that time was Siddharth Nath
Singh, who he directly reported to. Before Bora left to join politics, he had
worked in the DT group which has cinemas in Delhi, his first job, he recounts
with a hint of pride, was at Biblio, a celebrated literary magazine. In 2007,
Bora was nomi-nated from the cell to join Rajnath Singh during the state polls
in UP as his media assistant and spent all of January 2007 traveling with him.
Then in May-June, the party announced two new cells. One was Bora's IT cell,
the other was the cow protection cell... read more: